TLDR: If you live in San Francisco and have windows, please consider signing this letter.
I need to replace my front window. The wood is rotten. While San Francisco never gets that cold, all the cold there is whistles in through the gaps.
In general I want to make my house a little bit more energy efficient whenever I replace something. I'd assumed I could find some nice looking double paned replacements and get on with my life. Sane jurisdictions even require certain levels of insulation for this kind of project. San Francisco went the other way. There is a 14 page guide (PDF) to the requirements. Which boil down to window originalism, if your house is old enough:
"Another significant difference is that vinyl, fiberglass, and aluminum windows often do not have an important detail that is common on most older wood windows: the Ogee (pronounced Oh-jee) lugs at the bottom of the top sash (also called the meeting rail) of a double-hung window."
Yes, when Meta and Red Hat cancelled their conferences in San Francisco I'm pretty sure it was the lack of Ogees.
What about some double paned units?
"There should be an interior space bar, preferably of a dark color, within the insulated unit that visually divides the interior and exterior grilles."
This relates to divided light windows (i.e. you've got multiple panes of glass in one window). You might want to just have a single double paned window, but no, it needs to be in keeping with the original. You might then think that you could put some wood details over that single window but no, just in case someone looks closely and at an angle there has to be a shim inside to simulate it being multiple individual panes.
Doesn't the city care about the environment at all?
"While the advantages of double-paned windows are well known, a properly weatherstripped, single-glazed sash window can greatly reduce or eliminate air, noise and air infiltration (where most energy is lost)."
Greatly reduced is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Looking at U Values here, the rate of energy transfer in watts per square meter per Kelvin (1°C = 1K) – W/m2K, old single pane windows are over 4.8, modern double paned are 1.3 and triple paned 0.8. Lower is better, almost four times better just for double paned.
I don't know exactly how these requirements came into force. It could be out of touch planners wanting windows for a more civilized era. Maybe there is a concentrated benefit / diffuse cost thing going on in favor of a few eye wateringly expensive custom window builders. But when you're trying to pretend that single paned windows are a boon to the environment something has clearly gone very wrong.
Even at the aesthetic level I'm not sure we need all the Ogees. I love the chaotic architectural chaos of San Francisco. The hot pink victorian next to the grey brutalist remodel. It's part of the charm of the city. Also, the expense of complying with what was popular 100 years ago cannot help with affordability, a key challenge.
Happily my supervisor, Myrna Melgar, has proposed legislation to shred this document and allow most people to choose replacement windows that best fit their needs. It looks like her proposal is currently on a three month vacation with the planning department. If you have windows and live in San Francisco you should probably care about this, and you can sign a letter to show your support for the change here.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Bringing Sanity to Window Replacement in San Francisco #politics#sanfrancisco#windows#planning#sfpol San Francisco's insane window replacement rules; legislation to improve the situation; an open letter you can sign to help.)
Time lapse of the L Taraval light rail from West Portal station to the San Francisco Zoo. The L shut down during the pandemic and then years of construction replaced the tracks (and water lines, and sewers). It finally returned in September of 2024. I made a time lapse of the construction phase outside my house.
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, January 18, 2025.
Google Pixel 8 Pro 18mm f2.8 1/35s ISO16
BA285
In this photograph, an expansive view of a British Airways plane dominates the frame, exuding an aura of readiness and anticipation. The image is captured through the terminal windows, creating a layered effect with reflective surfaces adding depth to the scene. The plane’s curved body and distinctive red, white, and blue tail fin contrast starkly against the soft, muted tones of the cloudy sky beyond. Subtle hints of activity manifest in the blurred figures and equipment around the jet bridge, evoking a quiet hustle and bustle typical of air travel. This juxtaposition of the stationary and the bustling hints at the silent hum of a hub transitioning between departure and arrival.
The composition employs a balanced use of lines and layers. The vertical lines of the window frames serve as a frame within the frame, guiding the viewer’s gaze towards the aircraft, which is centered but appears slightly off-center due to the depth created by the glass. I appreciate the dynamic interaction between the geometric lines of the windows and the curvilinear form of the airplane, drawing attention to both the subject and the structural beauty of the terminal. However, the reflections, while adding depth, slightly distract from the clarity of the plane's details. Overall, this photograph shines in its elegant portrayal of travel's intersections, capturing a moment teeming with possibilities just beyond the glass.
I spent a few days near Shasta Lake over Thanksgiving. Here's a three night time lapse of the milky way. Also a couple of great hikes in the area: Clikapudi Loop (long) and Waters Gulch Loop (short). Some other travel time lapses include Bangalore and Lviv.
There was an election. I probably single-handedly evicted Biden and then endorsed Harris. Unfortunately my lifetime winning national election voting record stands at 1. And I got to vote in the US and the UK this year. Trump would probably have lost if Biden gave this speech I wrote for him. I do better in local elections and this year used OpenAI to semi-automate my California and San Francisco proposition guides.
I got my first electric vehicle - so should re-write this post to be far more righteous - and the hardest part was figuring out PG&E's shell game of rate plans. I ended up writing a python script to simulate my bill and it should work for anyone else trying to figure out this conundrum.
I know what this review is trying to say but nonetheless I have been chuckling for two days about all the women ruining the view on this 18 mile long beach, especially with the accompanying photos.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Winter Solstice 2024 #code#catfood#earth#winter#solstice The exact moment (09:20 UTC, December 21, 2024) of Winter Solstice as rendered in Catfood Earth.)
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, January 18, 2025.
Google Pixel 8 Pro 18mm f2.8 1/25s ISO26
BA284
Photograph Analysis
The photograph titled "SFO LHR" captures an airliner majestically poised on the tarmac, presumably at San Francisco International Airport with the expectation of its impending journey to London Heathrow. The large aircraft displays its graceful yet formidable structure, wings outstretched like a colossal bird ready for flight. The background showcases a sprawling urban landscape of modern buildings bathed in gentle hues of daylight, creating a serene and industrious ambiance. The apron's foreground is peppered with ground service vehicles, their presence hinting at the labyrinthine logistics that underpin the world of aviation.
The composition adheres to the fundamentals of symmetry, with the airliner positioned centrally, drawing the viewer's focus immediately to its impressive form. The play of horizontal lines – runways, taxiways, and structures – contributes to a sense of balance and calmness. The lighting is soft, diffusing over the scene and adding depth to the colors, yet it may lack the dramatic contrast that could accentuate the aircraft’s details. While the overall framing of the image is effective in capturing the full span of the aircraft and its surrounding environment, a possible area of improvement could be the sharpness of focus, as some elements appear slightly blurred. Despite this, the photograph conveys the grandeur and anticipation of an aircraft grounded before its transcontinental voyage.
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Sunday, December 29, 2024.
I've been Fediverse curious for a while, but even with its decentralized nature I'm not interested in creating content for someone else's platform. This blog has been federated for a little over a year thanks to Bridgy Fed, a nice free service that handles most of the gory implementation for you. I was delighted to learn this week that the project is now part of a non-profit, A New Social. Maybe the decentralized Internet stands a chance of coming back again? I'm cautiously optimistic and will be integrating a bit harder next year.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Bridgy Fed and A New Social #etc#ithcwy#bridgyfed#fediverse A New Social is a non profit that is taking on Bridgy Fed and hopefully opening up the Fediverse.)
Google tried this with Duplex, but for the solved use case of making a restaurant booking. The restaurants didn't like it and we didn't need it.
What I want is - transcribe my voicemail and send me an email. During that step drop any obvious spam. If I choose to reply to the email phone the person back, repeatedly, until you get them on the line and convey the reply and take down any response.
This looks like Twilio for the telephony, Whisper for the transcription and OpenAI realtime for the conversation. Do I want it badly enough to build it? Maybe. I should do this first though.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
AI Wishlist: Use email to reply to voicemail #etc#lazyweb#openai#voicemail#email Use LLMs, OpenAI realtime, Whisper and Twilio to prevent the scourge of real time communication.)
I haveoccasionallybeencriticalofAndroid, so I'm delighted to have something positive to report. For even fairly long articles I can now read the whole thing!
Over the last few updates my phone has become almost useless for reading. I'm probably an edge case in the TikTok era, but reading is important to me. Android has got progressively more psychotic about preserving battery life with Adaptive Battery and the war on background services and numerous other 'enhancements'. If I take my attention away from what I'm reading for a split second Android kills the process, plows salt into the memory it once occupied, and emails the developer to request an environmental impact statement.
In theory none of this should be a problem because Android has an activity lifecycle that tells the app it's going to be hung, drawn and quartered. The app can then save the current state and restore it when the user comes back to the app. Of course many developers can't be bothered with implementing this properly and Google seems to set a very bad example here. Chrome - back to the top of the article for you! Google news - full reload of a fresh slate of stories so the one you were reading isn't even in the list any more.
Android 15 blissfully fixes this and has done more than exercise, diet or beta blockers for my blood pressure.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
I can finish a web page in Android 15! #etc#google#android Android 15 finally fixes background process killing, making it easier to finish reading long articles without frustration.)
